Multiple needle stitching mechanism



Dec. 13, 1949 v. J. SIGODA MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCHING MECHANISM 4 She'ets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1945 ATTORNEY) MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCHING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 6, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. V/c roe d SIGODA A 7 TOR/V675 Dec. 13, 1949 v. J. SIGODA MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCHING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 6, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. V/c TOR u. .5/eo0A ATTORNEY) 13, 1949 v, SI QDA 2,491,457

MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCHING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 6, 1945- 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 59 62 .VICTOR dS/GOQA 4 ATTOR/VfXS' Patented Dec. 13, 1949 MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCHING MECHANISM Victor J. Sigoda, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Man-Sew Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 6, 1945, Serial No. 576,441

1 Claims. (o1. 112 9s This invention relates to multiple needle stitching mechanism and more particularly to an embroidery stitching mechanism for forming ornamental or embroidery stitching and in which the cooperating needles are mounted and arranged for relative movement at high speeds and in properly timed relation to accurately produce the e l.- broidery stitching in a predetermined design.

In general, the present invention has for its objective to provide certain important improvements in a multiple needle stitching mechanism of the type disclosed in my pending application for patent filed October 5, 1939, Serial Number 298,029, new Patent No. 2,369,183, February 13, 1945.

It is a more particular object of the invention to provide a mechanism of this kind having a vertical reciprocating thread loop forming needle cooperating with a thread-carrying needle moving in an obliquely angular path relative to said loop forming needle, together with a relatively stationary finger below the presserfoot of the machine for tensioning the thread loop in the upward stroke of said needles.

It is another object of my invention to simplify and improve the operating connections between the relatively movable needle carrying bars and the main shaft of the machine whereby the needles will be efliciently operated in properly timed relation to each other.

It is a further object of the invention, in one practical embodiment thereof to provide a plurality of vertically reciprocating hook needles and a complementary set of obliquely disposed thread carrying needles, said two sets of needles operating in parallel vertical planes, and each cooperating pair of hook and thread carrying needles being movable through the throat plate on the machine at opposite sides of a stationary tensioning finger formed thereon.

It is also an additional object of the invention to provide a multiple needle embroidery stitching machine as above characterized in which the conventional four-motion feeding mechanism is employed with a simple and efficient actuating means therefor, and in connection with which I provide a needle operating mechanism which will function in a reliable manner with a minimum of vibration and noise in the relative movement of its several parts.

It is the further aim and purpose of my present improvements to generally simplify the construction of such multiple needle stitching mechanisms whereby material economies in the initial production costs, as well as maintenance expense will be realized.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the multiple needle stitching and in the form, construction, and arrangement of the several elements, as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings which illustrate one simple and practical embodiment of the invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a multiple needle stitching mechanism embodying my present improvements.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the needle bar guide head, the face plate thereof being removed and the machine base shown in section.

Figure 3 is a detailed elevation on an enlarged scale showing the operating means for the ob liquely inclined thread carrying needles.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detailed top plan view showing the presser-foot of the machine and the obliquely reciprocating thread carrying needles.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line B--6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the throat plate.

Figure 8 is a vertical detailed section through the throat plate showing the relation of the hook and thread carrying needles at the end of their downward stroke with respect to the thread loop tensioning finger on the said plate.

Figure 9 is a similar view showing the position of the needles with respect to said tensioning finger at the end of their upward stroke.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary plan view of a section of fabric material illustrating the ornamental or embroidery stitching design produced thereon by the present invention.

With reference to the drawings in further detail, Ill indicates the bed plate of the machine upon one end of which the hollow standard or pedestal II is suitably fixed, said pedestal being provided at its upper end with the usual horizontally extending arm l2 terminating in the needle bar guide head l3. This guide head is open on one side to aiford access to the needle operating mechanism therein, but is normally closed by the detachable face plate [4. Below the guide head l3, the throat or cloth plate [5 is attached to the upper surface of the bed plate In by the screws It. This plate extends over an opening in the bed plate Ill in which the feed dog I! operates, said dog having a plurality of toothed portions movable in the slots it formed in the plate l5. Any conventional means commonly employed in the art may be used for imparting the required horizontal and vertical oscillating motions to the feed dog ll. In the present instance, I have illustrated a pitman rod is extending vertically through the ,pedestallland connected at its upper end with an eccentric fixed to the main shaft 25 of the machine. The lower end of this rod is pivotally connected to an arm on the horizontal shaft 2| journaled in suitable bearings depending from the bed plate ll! of the machine. To one end of this shaft an upstanding forked member 22 is fixed inwhich' the arm 23 of the feed dog is pivotally mounted. A second shaft 24 is also mounted below the machine bed i and has a driving connection at one of its ends by the gearing 25 with the vertical shaft 26 journaled in suitable bearings Zl'in the pedestal ll and connected at its upper end with the main shaft 26 by the gears 23; The shaft 24 carries an eccentric 29 engaged with the fork 30 On the end of an arm 3-! fixed to one end of a rotatable sleeve 32 surrounding the shaft 2 4 and journaled in the bearing 33. An arm 34 on the other end of this sleeve is connected by the link 35 with the feed dog l-'l whereby the vertical movements areimparted to the'feed dog.

The main shaft 2 0 isjourna led in the spaced bearings '35 and 31 in the arm 12 of the machine.

To the end of said shaft extending externally of the pedes al ll the usual drive wheel 38 connected with an electric motoror other convenient source of power is suitably fixed." I

The presserfoot 39 is 'pivotally mounted intermediate of its ends upon the lowerend of the rod 40 which is vertically movable through the guide head I3. Within the guide head 13 a collar 4| is fixed to the rod 40 and between s'a'idcollar and the upper end of the guide head an expansion spring 42 is interposed and normally urges said rod downward to yieldingly hold the presse-rfoot 39 in operative relation to the material as it is fed over the plate l5 in the oscillating motion of the feed dog ll. 7 i 5 Below the collar 4| 'an arm "431s fixed to the rod 45, the end of said arm being disposed withinthe bifurcated upper end of a'vertical stud fixed on the guide head l3.

A horizontally disposed rock shaft 45 ismounv ed on the arm l2, one end of said shaft'havin'g an arm 46 fixed thereto and extending beneath the arm 43 on the rod 40. To. the other'end 'of the shaft 45 a suitable hand operated member 4'! is fixed whereby said shaft may "be rocked to apply a lifting pressure by the arm 46 against the arm 43, and therebymove the rod Ml upwardly against the resistance of spring 42 and raise or elevate the presserfoot 39 to aniinop erative position. A needle bar or red 48 is mounted in the guide head is for vertical reciprocatorytmovement and is provided at its lower end 'withjsuitable holding means for a plurality of transversely spaced apart thread loop forminglneedles is. These needles may be provided adjacent to the lower pointed ends with open hooks or they may be of the pivoted latch type well known in the art. I

-An auxiliary presserfoot 5] associated with the needles =49. This presserfoot is suitablyfixed to the lower endof the rod or bar 52 also mounted for vertical reciprocatory movement in the guide .head

each of the needles 49. In the operative position of this auxiliary presserfoot, these depending 4 needle guiding tubes are received in the circular enlargements 55 at the forward ends of spaced slots 54 formed in the main presserfoot 35. At one side of each of the slots 55, the presserfoot 39 is also provided with a relatively short slot 55 having its forward end laterally curved as at 51. The throat plate I5 is also provided with spaced longitudinal slots 58 having comparatively small circular enlargements as at their forward ends. A second relatively short slot 6% is pro vided in saidplate at one side of each of the slots 58 and communicates with the rear end thereof, the forward end of each slot 5i also being cir- .cularly' enlarged as at El. Thus there is provided in the throat plate between each pair of slots 58 and .50 the relatively thin rearwardly extending thread tensioning fingers 52 the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

Within the head 13 a sleeve 53 is fixed to the shaft 20, one end of said sleeve being provided with a cam 64 which cooperates with a roller 65 mounted on one end of an arm 55, which is fixed at its other end to a rock shaft 5'! suitably mounted in the head I3. To the other end of said 'shaft'an arm 58 is secured and has upward hearing contact against a collar -59 fixed to the auxiliary presserfoot rod 52. This collar is formed with an angularly offset forked arm l6 engaged with the main presserfoot rod 40 which prevents rotative movement of the rod 52. Between the collar 69 and the upper end of guide head l3 a coil spring I I surrounds the rod 52 and yieldingly urges'the auxiliary presserfoot'5l downwardly into. cooperative relationship with the main presserfoot39.

To the end of the main shaft 29 a disk '12 is eccentric'ally fixed and formed with an obliquely disposed arm 13. A'link "M is pivoted at its upper end to the arm and at its lower end is pivotal-1y connected with one end of an intermediate link 15 which forms a toggle connection between the link 14 and a thii'dlink 16, the latter link being pivotally connected with a collar 16" secured to the needle bar '48. By reason of these link connections between disk 72 and the needle-bar, it will be seen that atthe end of the upward stroke of the needle bar as shown in Figure 2 there will be a slight dwell before the downward stroke is started, until the link 14 moves to the opposite side of the axis of the needle'bar from the position shown in Figure 2 as the disklZ rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow. While this linkage connection between the main shaft '20 and the needle bar 48 provides .a'simple and effective means for contro'llinggthe reciprocating motions of the needles 49, it will be. understood that other motion transmitting connections may be employed, such for instance as that shown in the above identified pending application.

,The rear sidewall of the guide head 13 is disposed at .a vertically obl'ique angle of approximately 6.0 as indicated at El, in downwardly convergent relation tothe needle bar 68. On the external face ofthe wall, a needle bar 18 is mounted for.reciprocatingmotion in spaced bearings 19. A transversely inclined shaft 8.6 is mounted within the needle guide head and has its ends journaled in suitable bearings on the front and rear walls thereof. A spiral gear 8| fixed on this'shaft has constant meshing engagement with .a similar gear 82 fixed on the sleeve 53. Toone end of the shaft 35 at the outer side of .the wall T! .a disk 83 ,is fixed and carries an at one end oscillatably journaled upon a stud shaft 88 suitably fixed at one of its ends on the wall ll. This sleeve is provided with a crank arm 89 to which the lower end of a link 99 is pivotally connected, the upper end of said link being pivotally connected to a collar 9| on the needle bar '59.

To the lower end of the needle bar t9 the head 92 is detachably connected and carries a plurality of transversely spaced eye pointed thread carrying needles 93 which are adapted to co operate with the respective hook needles 49. It will be apparent from the above that through the driving connections between the main shaft 29 and the needle bar 18, the needles 93 will be reciprocated in an obliquely inclined path in properly timed relation to the hook needles 49 which are reciprocated in a vertical path perpendicular to the plane of the throat plate [5.

It will be noted from reference to Figure '7, that the needle receiving openings formed by the enlarged ends 59 and BI of the slotsin the throat plate and the cooperating needles 39 and 93 are spaced apart transversely of the line of feed for a distance less than the diameter of the needles. In other words the centers of the openings in the throat plate are transversely spaced apart for a distance substantially equal to the diameter of said openings.

Referring now to Figures 6, 7, and 8 of the drawings, in connection with Figure 2, it will be understood that the hook needles 49 in their downward stroke are accurately guided by the tubular parts 53 on the auxiliary presserfoot positioned in the enlarged ends 55 of the slots 54 in the main presserfoot 39 so that said needles will pass downwardly through the forward ends of the slots 58 in throat plate l5 and at one side of the rearwardly extending fingers 62. Simultaneously the other set of thread carrying needles 93 in the downward stroke thereof pass through short slots 56 in the presserfoot 39 and the forward ends 6| of the slots 69 in the throat plate l5 at the opposite sides of the fingers 62 with respect to the hook needles 49.

As seen in Figure 8 of the drawing, at the end of the downward stroke of the two sets of needles the thread has been drawn through the fabric and below the fingers 62 by the obliquely inclined needles 93 and is engaged in the hooks 59 of the needles 49 at the opposite sides of the fingers 62. Thus in the upward stroke of the two sets of needles as their pointed lower ends move apart in divergent paths and above the throat plate, the thread will be drawn by the hook needles through the eyes of the needles 93 and held taut by the fingers 62. In this position of the needles, the fabric is fed rearwardly beneath the presserfoot for a predetermined distance and the thread loops are laid upon the surface of the fabric in the following downward stroke of the needles 49, as shown at 94 in Figure 10 of the drawings to form the spaced rows of chain stitches while the obliquely reciprocating needles 93 in their downward strokes form the alternating rows of single strand stitches 95. It will also be clear that the thread tensioning fingers 62 cause a tensioning stress to be applied to the previously formed chain stitch 94 in each upward stroke of the needles. In each feeding movement of fabric, the threads pass oif the rear ends of the fingers 62 and in the reciprocation of the two sets of needles form the oblique connecting strands between the chain stitches 94 and the respective adjacent rows of single strand stitches 95 on the underside of the fabric as indi- 6 cated at 96 in Figure 10 of the drawings. In this manner, the formation of tautly drawn chain or loop stitches in the embroidery design, in a machine operating at high speed, is assured. While I have herein shown three needles in each set, it will of course be apparent that a greater or lesser number of needles may be provided and grouped or spaced as may be required for any particular predetermined design. Also to enhance the decorative or ornamental effect, the cooperating needles in the two sets may carry threads of different colors. These threads may be supplied from the spools or cops mounted on the horizontal arm or other stationary part of the machine, and as seen in Figure 6 may be extended therefrom and threaded through suitable guides shown at 1-37 and 98 on the lower end of the presserfoot bar as and on the lower end of the needle bar 79 respectively, and thence through the eyes of the needles 93.

From the foregoing description it is believed that the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of the present invention will be clear and fully understood. It will be appreciated that I accomplish the above enumerated objects of the invention in a mechanism which is comparatively simple in its construction, capable of operating at high speeds, and which will efficiently function to produce ornamental embroidery stitching upon fabrics in accordance with the predetermined selected design. In the drawings I have disclosed one practical embodiment of the novel mechanism which in actual use has given excellent results. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that the essential features of my invention, as herein disclosed may also be exemplified in various other structural forms and I accordingly reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate variations in the form, construction, and relative arrangement of the several cooperating elements, as may fairly be comprehended within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a multiple needle stitching mechanism, a vertical reciprocating hook needle, a thread carrying needle laterally and longitudinally spaced from the hook needle and mounted to reciprocate in a path obliquely inclined in the direction of feed of the material and in intersecting relation to the path of reciprocation of the hook needle, a throat plate over which the material is fed to said needles having openings therein through which the respective needles reciprocate, and a stationary thread tensioning finger associated with said throat plate of less thickness than the diameter of said openings and disposed in a vertical plane between the paths of reciprocation of said needles to tension the thread stitches in the upward strokes of said needles, and means for reciprocating said needles in timed relation to each other.

2. Multiple needle stitching mechanism as defined in claim 1 in which the throat plate is formed with closely adjacent slots parallel to the line of feed of the fabric, said slots extending rearwardly from the openings which receive the respective needles and communicating with each other at their rear ends to provide the thread tensioning finger between said slots disposed wholly in the plane of the throat plate.

3. In multiple needle stitching mechanism, a presserfoot, a vertical reciprocating hook needle, a thread carrying needle mounted to reciprocate in an obliquely inclined path rearwardly of said aeenem hook needle, said .presserfoot having openings therein through. which: said needles reciprocate in transversely spaced vertical planes, and a stationary thread tensioning finger beneath said presserfoot, the spacing of the needles transversely' of the line: of feed being less than the diameter of the needles, said finger being disposed in aplane normal to the path of feed of the; material and betweenand rearwardly of said needles and having a free end extending in the direction of feed of the fabric beneath the presserfoot.

4. In a multiple needle stitching mechanism, a main needle operating'shaft, a plurality of hook needles mounted to reciprocate in perpendicular paths, a plurality of thread carrying needles mounted to reciprocate in obliquely inclined paths,.a presserfoot through which said needles reciprocate, thetwo sets of needles being disposed with respect to the line of feed in transversely spaced vertically parallel operating planes with adjacent needles thereof cooperating to form a plurality ofstitches, means operatively connecting said two sets of needles-with the main shaft for operating the same in timed relation to each other, andzmeans immediately below the presserfoot and positionedbetween the paths of reciprocation of adjacent cooperating needles in the twosets of needles for: tensioning the thread stitches formed thereby.

5. Multiple needle. stitching mechanism as defined in claim 4 in which said means for operating the: two setsof needles intimed relation includes actuatingmeans. for the-hook needles operatively' connected withv said main shaft, and actuating means for the thread carrying needles including an operating shaft independent of said actuating means for the hook needles and having driving connection with said main shaft.

6. A throat plate for multiple needle sewing machines having front and rear laterally spaced needle receiving openings of equal diameters and a narrow slot extending rearwardly from each of said openings.- in substantially tangential relation thereto, said openingshaving their centers spaced apart transversely of the throat plate for a distance substantially equal to the diameter of said openings said slots being. joined at their rear ends to form a relatively thin thread tensioning finger between said slots.

7. The throat plate definedvin claim 6 wherein said finger has a transverse dimension substantially equal to the width of one of said slots and is disposed in a vertical plane normal to the throat plate which intersects the forward needle receiving opening.

VICTOR J. SIGODA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,266,838 McNeil May 21,. 1918 2,118,077 Fink. May 24, 1938 2,337,119 Lutz' Dec. 21, 1943 2,369,183 Sigoda Feb'..13, 1945 

